Keepers of a dying flame

I'm frequently asked what I think of Jimmy Maher's selection as Adam Gilchrist's back-up during the recent Test series in the West Indies. As a current player, I should be extremely careful how I answer this question in a public forum, but it is a topic close to my heart that deserves discussion.

I have a great deal of respect for Maher as a cricketer. He has been a catalyst behind Queensland's dominance at state level over the past seven or eight years. Hard-nosed, hard-working, unfashionable, larrikin, competitive and great team man - all these words can be used to describe him. But for heaven's sake, surely not "wicketkeeper".

I don't begrudge Maher the opportunity to play for Australia, for I couldn't think of too many more worthy recipients of the baggy green. He has represented Queensland as passionately and proudly as any cricketer I have played against at state level. Not, however, behind the stumps.

Maher comes from a state that has a proud tradition of producing Australian glovemen such as Don Tallon, Wally Grout and Ian Healy, and two others in my time who have not had the honour of Test selection. One is Wade Seccombe and the other I regard as possibly the best gloveman in this country during the past 20 years. I take nothing away from Ian Healy, whose keeping to Shane Warne during the 1993 and '97 Ashes series may never be equalled, but let me tell you, Peter Anderson was a freak.

During my time at the cricket academy in 1988, Ando was keeping wicket for South Australia in his tatty old white hat. He was touted as the successor to Australian keeper Greg Dyer but broke a thumb standing up to the stumps to Ian Botham's bowling during a shield game at the WACA Ground in 1987-88.");document.write("

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As is often the case with wicketkeeping, opportunities at the highest level are rare. Just ask Richie Robinson, who sat in Rod Marsh's shadow for 15 years, or Bob Taylor, who was second-fiddle to the great Allan Knott for 20 years. Healy grabbed the chalice and the rest, as they say, is history.

Ando was devastated. He left his native Queensland and moved to SA to start afresh. It was while watching him closely that I believe I developed my philosophy on the art of keeping wickets.

I refer to it as an art because it is. It is a specialist position that requires a lot of fine-tuning and skill to master. A bowler is belted for four, then takes a wicket and all is forgotten. A batsman can continually play and miss but will survive if the gods are on his side. Just one lapse from the gloveman can prove devastatingly costly.

I'm sure Healy still has nightmares of Inzamam-ul-Haq charging Warne with just three runs needed to win the game in the 1994 Test in Karachi. Big Inzy swung and missed and, unfortunately, so did Heals. Four byes resulted and the Test was lost.

The spotlight generally only comes on the keeper when he makes an error. He can spend the afternoon squatting, sprinting, collecting errant throws from the outfield, diving, concentrating, stumping - all part of a job Healy referred to as the "drummer in the band". Then, just one little error late in the afternoon can devastate the team's cause. This challenge is what most keepers thrive on - this is what drives them and motivates them to the be the best.

"It's not the ones you take, it's the ones you miss," said my childhood mentor Bert Mattcott on how a keeper is judged. But now I'm not so certain this is the case.

This brings me to my point. Who will be Adam Gilchrist's replacement? It is difficult to answer and an even more clouded issue given recent selections. The saturation of one-day cricket has created many interesting debates among cricket purists. I wish to add to this the death of the art of wicketkeeping.

Selectors worldwide have been swept away with the phenomenon that is one-day cricket. In most countries now, the specialist keeper or even the keeper/batsman has been replaced by an extra batsman plonked behind the stumps trying to impersonate the artists of days gone by. Andy Flower, Moin Khan, Rahul Dravid and Alec Stewart are just some of the names that spring to mind as batsmen all distinguished in that field but backstops behind the stumps at best.

The concern I have is the effect this is having on wicketkeeping. It is clear that the role of the specialist gloveman is no longer valued as it was in the days of Tallon and Grout.

I know that the justification in the West Indies was that Maher was going as part of the limited-overs squad and did an adequate job in one World Cup game when Gilchrist was rested. However, what does it do for the hopes and dreams of the up-and-coming keepers around the country? Maher doesn't even keep wicket for his club.

What about those boys who moved aside the up-ended trampoline to stand behind the stumps in backyard cricket? The ones who aspire to represent Australia as a specialist keeper. The ones who spend hour after hour hurling their bodies around at practice, taking catches off the top of rollers or perfecting the art of the leg-side stumping in the fading light after all the others have left the track. Those boys meticulous with their equipment, like most keepers are, who pride themselves on a clean sheet every Saturday afternoon.

Who will it be? Adam Crosthwaite, Luke Ronchi, Sean Clingleffer or someone younger than all these promising kids who follows the line of great Australian keepers. Nobody knows yet, but for the integrity of the game, let's hope it is a specialist keeper and not just a backstop.

Darren Berry is Victoria's most capped player and has completed more dismissals in Australian domestic cricket than any other wicketkeeper. Richard Hinds is on annual leave. Hindsight will return in a fortnight.